Sunday, April 7, 2013

41 days into our posting streak, today's updates are thankfully more positive than yesterday's mostly were, so what's on tap as we start another week? Today, we have our first major Sault Michigan updates since April Fools Day, courtesy of a new video and some recent shorter items, but first, we have a long awaited new song posting from one of the area's biggest metal bands, and first, a different sort of LOCAL CONCERT ALERT in a couple of weeks, so here's what you need to know!

In a definite change from what we tend to hear from shows not involving Tym Morrison, we have an SMS-fitting acoustic show to announce tonight, as the Chris Shoust-led grunge/lo-fi solo project Telephone & Address will headline an ALL AGES gig at The Royal Canadian Legion at 96 Great Northern Road on April 27th! This is the first time that we've hyped a concert at the Legion since the original Turner Up played there in May 2010, and it's the first time I can recall Chris playing a live concert under the Telephone & Address handle. Chris' acoustic work definitely fits for SMS coverage, as it's all influenced by grunge and alternative hard rock, despite the one-man nature of much of his recent musical output, and though there is an outsider feel to much of it, these all sound like the seeds of heavy full-band material! Telephone & Address will be supported by local solo musician Jake Rydall, who has his own softer material that you can check out at this location, and he has talent himself! Admission will be $5 for this show (the second to be promoted by AlgomA drummer Jamie Vincent through his new all ages promotion agency), and a 9:00 PM start time is advertised. Check the above links for more details!

We don't get a varied array of acoustic metal/hard rock shows here, and though I imagine Telephone & Address would be an acquired taste for some, I can appreciate Chris' solo work! He's very artistic and accomplished in various fields, and his music reminds me of Daniel Johnston crossed with Nirvana in some ways. Plus, I imagine this is rare to see him playing live, so keep this show in mind in two weeks, and stay tuned for any possible updates!

Next up, local progressive death metal standouts Gates of Winter posted a new demo original onto their YouTube channel yesterday! Their first sign of life in almost five months (and their first new media posting in over a year), this is of a newly unveiled original song named "Prometheus", which is expected to be a part of their long gestating second EP (and third total release) "Perihelion", though it's unclear if they're still planning to change the name like what was said last fall. Featuring the song's lyrics on the video, this shows more signs of their more technical and death-metal influenced current sound, along with minimal clean vocals, and some orchestral and ethnic flourishes, though I can't confirm yet if they're using programmed drums or have found a new drummer for the recordings. I still hope to review "Perihelion" when it's released (hopefully sooner rather than later), so I won't go in-depth on my thoughts yet, but fans shouldn't be disappointed!

The long wait for band news, updates, and (of course) a return to the stage for the first time since 2008 has been excruciating at times, but hopefully this helps, so check out "Prometheus" below, and stay tuned for more Gates of Winter news as it creeps in!

We'll transition to the Sault Michigan area for the rest of today's post, including our first video glimpse of newer local hard rock quintet Full Throttle! Lake Street Studio owner Taylor Brugman was in attendance for their concert at The Bird (a.k.a. Golanka's Bar) on March 16th, and posted this video of Full Throttle covering Velvet Revolver's "Slither" onto the studio's YouTube channel a week later, so what do we know from it? Well, it does confirm later lineup information on them that I had found, so their current lineup does indeed feature Absolute singer Donny Newell, guitarists Jason Lamoreaux and Steve Pevarnic (of Steve's Music Center fame), Powerslug guitarist Chris Gurnoe on bass, and (I assume) Mark Gillotte on drums, but let me know if I have anything wrong! The video's well lit, but Jason & Chris are often hid behind speakers or other band members at this angle.

As for the song, it's pretty well performed, but Donny does sing some chorus lyrics at the wrong points, and the guys do seem somewhat stiff on stage. Good first video though, and hopefully there's more to come, so check out Full Throttle's cover of "Slither" below!

Finally for today, here's three recent shorter news items from across the river, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or station name:

Cheboygan rock radio station Real Rock 105.1 FM
(which picks up here on better radios) has changed it's name to Rock
105, complete with a major rebranding that saw it's main Traverse City
signal switch from 95.5 FM to 105.1 FM as well. The playlist (leaning
towards modern rock) will remain the same, so this isn't a major change
from what we knew, but check the above links for the new look Rock 105!

Local classical metal trio Theatre of Night have proved that they still play full on metal, posting a new instrumental named "A Wintery Mix" onto their Reverbnation page on Thursday, and it has a darker symphonic metal feel with some solid tempo changes and instrumentation, so give it a look at the above links, and stay tuned for news on their next album projects!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news in the next couple of days, including our preview of Wednesday's second night of the Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands! Thanks everyone!